Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for June 23, 2015

On June 23, 903 AD, the Icelandic Parliament, the Althing or Althingi, was established and is the world’s oldest.

In honor of the Icelandic Parliament, here’s the greatest Icelandic band ever, the Sugarcubes, playing at Auburn in 1988.

Off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, British Commodore Sir Peter Parker spent June 23, 1776 preparing to land the next day, charged with supporting loyalists to the British crown.

On June 23, 1819, Texas declared its independence from Spain.

On June 23, 1862, General Robert E. Lee met with his commanders in preparation for what would be known as the Seven Days’ Battles.

On June 23, 1865, Georgia-born Cherokee Stand Watie became the last Confederate general to surrender.

On June 23, 1888, Frederick Douglass became the first African-American nominated for President, receiving one vote from Kentucky at the Republican National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

Former Atlanta mayor Maynard H. Jackson, Jr. died on June 23, 2003.

Georgia Political Events

Next Wednesday, July 1, 2015 from 7-8:30 PM, DeKalb County Commissioner Nancy Jester will host a Town Hall Meeting on How To Appeal Your DeKalb County Property Value Assessment at Dunwoody City Hall 41 Perimeter Center East, Dunwoody, GA 30346.

On Saturday, July 11, 2015, the Fulton County Republican Party will host a breakfast and HD 48 Candidate Forum with Dave McCleary and Dr. Betty Price at Country Club of Roswell, 2500 Club Springs Drive, Roswell, Georgia 30076. Doors open at 8:30 AM and the program Starts PROMPTLY at 9:00 AM and ends at 10 AM. Click here to register.

On Saturday, August 15, 2015 from 5 to 7 PM, Oglethorpe County GOP is hosting a pancake supper and gun raffle for a MPAR 556 Gen I Rifle made by MasterPiece Arms in Comer, Ga. Lexington Baptist Church, 103 W Church Street, Lexington, GA 30648. $6.00 per person for Pancake Supper. Raffle tickets $5 each or $20 for 5. Click here for more information from the Oglethorpe County GOP.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Yesterday, Dave McClery released a robocall from Pat Geisinger, the widow of the late State Rep. Harry Geisinger,

Hello, this is Pat Geisinger. I’m calling you today to express my entire family’s support for Dave McCleary. My husband Harry passed this May, but for the past twelve years he served you as State Representative right here in District 48. When he spoke of retirement, Dave McCleary was always the man he wanted to succeed him. Dave worked closely with Harry on important legislation for the betterment of children. Harry believed in Dave McCleary.

This is Pat Geisinger, asking you to trust my husband once again and on July 14^th, vote for Harry’s choice, Dave McCleary. Thank you for listening.

Voters are going to the polls for early voting in House District 155, according to the Tifton Gazette.

The seat was vacated by Rep. Jay Roberts, who has will serve as planning director for the Georgia Department of Transportation. Candidates Scott Lowell Downing, Horace Hudgins, Sherry Miley and Clay Pirkle are looking to fill the unexpired term of Roberts.

Advanced voting will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at Election Central, located at 222 Chesnutt Ave., Building B, and end at 5 p.m. July 10.

The election office will be closed July 3 in observance of Independence Day, but will be open July 4 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., pursuant to Georgia Election Code 21-2-385. There will be no voting July 13.

I’ve never heard of voting on July 4th before, but America!

Voters will also have the option of voting on July 4th in the House District 146 race, which features Republicans Shaw Blackmon, Kelly Burke, and Larry Walker, III.

Butts County Board of Education is considering lowering the millage rate as property valuations are up across the County.

Former Murray County Chief Magistrate Judge Bryant Cochran, who was convicted of drug and witness tampering charges, had his sentencing pushed back to July 8 in federal court in Rome, GA.

The Development Authority of Cobb County will likely give a $75k grant and additional tax breaks from a $10 million bond issue to keep Genuine Parts in the Cumberland area.

The Richmond County Board of Elections will remove from voter rolls 500 voters registered at now-demolished apartment complexes who have not updated their residence information.

On Wednesday from 5-6 PM, Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis will hold office hours along with District 1 Commissioner Bill Fennoy at Metro Market, 561 Broad Street in downtown Augusta.

In a story out of the Palmetto State, Aiken County, SC is reviewing communications guidelines with an eye toward restricting the use of personal email accounts for official communications. Anywhere this passes, we dub it “The Hillary Clinton Rule.”

[Aiken County Administrator Clay] Killian said that under South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act, all e-mails sent and received by elected officials are considered government record and can be requested by the public, but without a local policy in place it’s unclear how Aiken County should store messages kept on private servers – and for how long.

“We don’t have a policy at the moment and we need to address that,” Killian said.

In Aiken County, Killian said all council members are issued public e-mail addresses but that most use their personal accounts “out of convenience.”

He described the process of checking a public e-mail account as “cumbersome,” particularly for council members who do not have a smartphone or tablet and would need to log into the county’s system from a remote location.

“It is a practical matter,” Kil­lian said. “They spend most of their time at home, not in county offices.”

Under Augusta’s personnel policy and procedures manual, “users shall not utilize any electronic mail services other than those maintained by Augusta’s Infor­mation Technology De­part­ment.” It specifically prohibits AOL, Yahoo, Hot­mail, Mail City, and MSN services.

It’s never too early to start identifying the next generation of campaign clients potential District Attorneys. In Savannah, 22 students are taking part in a summer program, the Summer Law Institute in District Attorney Meg Heap’s office.

Their courtroom was a borrowed Chatham County Commission meeting room. Their venue was a fictitious “Milton County.” Their criminal case, a reckless driving with injuries. Never occurred.

For two weeks, 16 assistant district attorneys and several assistant public defenders worked with four teams of kids on preparations for Mock Trial Competition, including how to ask questions and what to ask.

Several speakers addressed the students on such items as life skills, etiquette and how to dress for the real world. As part of the program, each participant was provided with a white shirt and ties, all in an effort to impart the need for decorum in the real world. For some, just tying a tie was a first-time experience.

Working with McLeod and grant writer Kristin Fulford, Heap and her staff received a $220,000 U.S. departments of Justice and Health and Human Services for a Minority Youth Violence Prevention Program at Memorial University Medical Center.

Some of that grant money was used for the law institute.